Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet #2)

“Good, then you know I can remove it from your body if I want. Since it’s mine and all that.”

He turns with a grin, not the least bit concerned.
I cross my arms. That’s just insulting. I’m pretty much a badass now.
“I got held up because the guy I was after was in the middle of an airport attempting to get on a flight.”
“How’d you get him out without anyone noticing?”
“Ambushed him while he was taking a piss. Then had to empty out a suitcase
to stuff his body into.”
I blink. That sounds… interesting.
Before, I’d call him disturbed. Sick. Psychotic. I mean, he is still all of those things. But it no longer repulses me like it used to. Or maybe it never did, and I was lying to myself.
I do that a lot.
“Who was it?” I ask.
“Some man that Jillian asked me to kill. Used to be her step-dad and abused
her as a child,” he explains, toeing off his boots and setting them neatly in the corner of the room.
I wasn’t surprised to find that Zade lives meticulously. He doesn’t seem like
the type to leave his dirty underwear lying in the middle of the room for a week,
or crusty dishes in the sink.
“Good,” I murmur, happy that he could do that for her. “Is he the only one you killed tonight?”
“Yes,” he responds simply, arching a brow.
I nod and lick my dry lips, nervous about broaching this subject. “So, Rio is
still evading you?”
Zade glances at me. “I know where he is, Addie,” he answers, approaching me, wearing nothing but his black jeans and belt.
My heart drops, but I work to keep my face blank.
“You don’t want him dead,” he states plainly, sitting on the edge of the chair
beside the bed. I’m pretty sure we’ll have to clean that—he’s absolutely covered
in blood.
“Why would you thi—”
“Don’t lie to me,” he cuts in sternly, facing straight ahead. His white eye flits
towards me before returning to the black wall.
“I see your face anytime his impending death is brought up, yet you always
keep your pretty mouth shut. I’ve known his location for a while, but I’ve decided that I’ll wait to kill him until you open your mouth and tell me what you really want.”
I’m nervous. Almost like he’s caught me cheating, and I have to confess. It’s
nothing like that, yet I feel like I’ve been bad anyway.
“I don’t know what I feel,” I admit, pressing my back into the cool stone. “He
hurt me. Often. But not in the ways you think.”
“He didn’t rape you,” Zade supplies.
“No… he didn’t. But he witnessed it happen from the other men and didn’t stop it. But then… he couldn’t have.”
“Sure he could,” Zade argues. “You think I’d stand by and watch?”
“Even if—”
“No. The answer is no, regardless of the scenario. If I were weaponless and
had five guns trained on me, I still wouldn’t stand by and watch you—or any of
those other girls—go through what you did. And I get that his sister was used as
collateral, but he could’ve asked for my help.”
I frown. I hadn’t really thought of that. Rio was very aware of who he was going up against from the beginning. So why didn’t he betray those who were holding his sister hostage, and get Z to help him instead?
“You’re right,” I acquiesce softly. “Regardless of his choices, it’s still hard to
forget how much he helped me. When Sydney was trying to frame me, there were times he took the blame instead, and Rocco would beat the shit out of him for it. He may not have been able to step in every time, but he did what he could
in a situation he felt trapped in.”
Zade stays quiet, so I continue. “Francesca made him take care of my injuries
from the car accident since they were his fault. But then I started getting injuries from the men, and then eventually Xavier, and he took care of those, too. I…
don’t know how to explain it. But he kind of became my friend. He was a little
cruel in the beginning with Dr. Garrison, but he never looked at me like… He was the only man in that house that didn’t sexualize me, and I guess in the end, he was my safe place. He did hurt me, Zade, but he protected me, too.”
The muscle in his jaw pops, but I can’t tell what’s on his mind. It takes him a
few moments, but eventually, he turns his head to me with an empty expression.
“Do you want me to spare his life?” he asks, voice monotone.
I open my mouth, but no words make it out.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I really don’t know.”
“What did we talk about before? Decide what you can and cannot live with.
Can you live with knowing that I killed Rio, or can you not?”
I frown, looking down at my hands while I contemplate that. I’ve been
picking at a hangnail without even realizing, a dot of blood on the side of my thumb.
“Would you do it?” I question, looking up at him. “If I asked, would you spare his life?”
“Yes,” he responds. “I would kill for you—I have killed for you—but I would
also put down a gun and never pick it up again if you asked it of me. The lengths
I would go to for you are terrifying, little mouse. So easily, you could destroy me, and I would lie down and take it. I don’t care if I live or die—as long as it’s all for you.”
“Don’t say that,” I whisper.
“I don’t lie, Adeline, and I’m not going to start now. So, tell me. Do you want
me to spare his life?”
“Yes,” I answer after a few beats. “I want Rio to live with his own choices.
Whether he regrets the decisions he made or not, I want him to live with it. And
I don’t want either of us to be responsible for taking away Katerina’s brother.”
Zade drops his head, but he nods. And the love that was nearly bursting from
my tongue when I saw him on TV is back again, though it never really left.
I crawl from the bed and kneel between his spread thighs, grabbing his face in
my palms and kissing his lips softly.
“Thank you,” I say. “Not just for this, but for earlier, too. Taking the blame for Xavier’s death.”
“Didn’t I say I’d do anything for you?” he asks, turning his head to kiss my
palm before slipping from my fingers and standing up.
“I need to shower. Sleep, baby.”

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